There are two main ways businesses will use design: digital, and print form. With the vast emergence of digital marketing, print is often seen as an outdated, ‘traditional’ form of marketing, which is far from the case. Printed marketing materials are still effective, their value has just become clouded by the evolving digital marketing options.
The impact of a well-designed printed piece will leave a long-lasting impression on anyone. With the increasing amount of time spent online, both at home and the office, seeing a printed marketing piece brings a sense of worth to your product or service that is often lost in all the pixels that we see on a daily basis. We are exposed to so many digital materials that it becomes difficult for brands to differentiate themselves on the busy World Wide Web, and print marketing gives them that opportunity to stand out again. Plus, in today’s digital age, it shows that a company not only values, but also believes in their products or services enough to invest in printed materials.
Booklet marketing is a proven advertising strategy that gives back a positive ROI (Return On Investment). A well-designed booklet is always attractive to customers and prospects. They still want hard copy, tangible advertising and marketing material to keep as a reference. Booklets, brochures and catalogs, if well-designed, will tempt a higher number of customers than other methods such as disposable flyers or glancing print advertising. They provide a practical format for the delivery of useful, branded information.
5 GREAT BOOKLET IDEAS
Image Booklet or Calendar
Use high quality images to promote your products and brand. Create a concise 'coffee table' booklet or a calendar – with impressive design and pictures that offer immediate visual appeal. Provide photographic information about your industry, products, process and customers. Create impact with full color images and bold design. And what better way to be seen by your customers on a daily basis than with a beautiful calendar hanging on their wall.
Technical Booklet
Customers and prospects always appreciate detailed information. People are keen to know more about the technical side of your business. Use a booklet to explain jargon, behind-the-scene details, elements, outcomes and more. Booklets are a practical format for an instruction manual.
Community Booklet
Every business should aim to include community service within its outreach program. Community or charity involvement is a great way to give back, provide service, make new acquaintances and raise your brand profile. Why not publish a booklet about your 'not for profit' work? Inform your target audience about your community project with information and pictures; make a call for donations and ask people to take positive action. A community booklet showcases the benefits you provide beyond your business and raises the profile of the charity, group or project with which you are involved. Feature the website and social links of your charity group throughout the brochure.
Company Training Manual
Booklets make great handbooks and training manuals too! They are economical and effective, and better present your company rather than the old-fashioned, outdated method of photocopies stuffed into plastic sheet protectors.
Handy Booklet
Create a branded booklet that is useful. Some ideas include cookbook, a daily planner, a motivational guide, tips-n-tricks and more. Brand each page thoughtfully. Include coupons or other offers.
PRODUCING A WINNING BOOKLET
Booklets are a great way to give your customers something valuable they'll reference time and again. To be clear, booklets should not be overt sales pitches - instead, they should be informative, engaging and worth keeping around. This doesn't mean they can't be promotional, but if all your booklets do is say "buy me!" then they're ineffective at best. You're missing opportunities to connect with your customers and send sales soaring. Here's how to produce a winning booklet:
Start With The Basics
You're an expert in what your products and services can do, but your customers are not. In the booklet planning stage, your goal is to answer the question: "What do my customers want to know?" The answer to this question will form the foundation of your booklet. This is how you can make your booklet both interesting and engaging, and when you can do that everything else starts to take care of itself.
Insert The Marketing Angle
The next question you have to answer is: "What do my customers need to do next?" Once your customers learn from your booklet, there should be an actionable step they can take to learn more or purchase supplies and services. Do not overwhelm your booklet with sales pitches, they should appear as afterthoughts to the content. Placing your "ads" as helpful tips or advice boxes is one way to pull this off.
Design & Copy
Once you have your topic and angle nailed, you can utilize a graphic designer and copywriter to put your plan on paper. Spacious layouts invigorate, and intelligent-yet-light copy tend to work well in booklets. Large images, a coupon page, quick fact sheets, and other devices are great ways to keep your booklets lively and engaging. Use images that are important to your customer; they will want to see the product you’re selling, images of the results they'll get, or emotions they'll feel if they use your product or service. Be sure the images are clear and look professional.
Print Quality
For your booklets to be effective your word must be trusted and therefore your printing techniques must be respected and good quality. Choose a 100-pound gloss stock for your cover. This stock is thick and hearty and has a finish that will enrich your colors. For inside booklet pages, 70-pound, 80-pound, or 100-pound gloss text will do the trick. Printing full-color booklets with saddle stitch binding exudes professionalism. Once your finished booklets are printed, all you have to do is send them to a well-defined mailing list. They are easy to distribute and can be mailed economically by utilizing EDDM’s - Every Door Direct Mailing (under “Products” see Print Direct For Less’ EDDM services). If you can put the right message with the right offer in front of the right crowd, your booklets will be a hit. Keep in mind the customer's point of view. Cater to your customers' needs and your audience will be engaged and motivated to take action.